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A review by zoracious
Violence and the Sacred by René Girard
4.0
In a highly innovative book that studies the mechanisms and structures behind violence, Girard's Violence and the Sacred presents his unique insights into violence in literature and society.
From the bible to Oedipus Rex to various indigenous tribes throughout the world, Girard attempts to cover all bases in his arguments. He finds interesting psychological sources for the various sacrifices of humankind, talks of the victim and the scapegoat, and analyzes the way humans fight, block, and stop violence. His ideas, while they may be quite offensive or at the least controversial to some, definitely present new perspectives on why humans give in to primal instincts.
Girard discusses, in complicated and yet fairly understandable terms, common literary elements of sacrifice, plagues, dealing with crisis, and generative and reciprocal violence. Another interesting topic Girard analyzes in his novel is that of desire. In presenting the idea that human desire is mimetic and external, he eventually comes to the conclusion that desire invariably becomes violent.
The tried and tried again theory behind the title character of Oedipus Rex gets a revamping in Girard's second chapter with the suggestion that Oedipus, rather than being led into fate, himself took the deliberate steps to end up where he was. Every aspect of Oedipus, as well as many other stories and novels, can be analyzed under Girard's theory with the result of a highly different perspective.
Other literary analyses are of great interest, including the idea of the "monstrous double" in literature, the literary elements of mirroring and repetition, and the historical significance of twins in society. Girard's novel gives a new and large perspective not only on literature, but on society.
From the bible to Oedipus Rex to various indigenous tribes throughout the world, Girard attempts to cover all bases in his arguments. He finds interesting psychological sources for the various sacrifices of humankind, talks of the victim and the scapegoat, and analyzes the way humans fight, block, and stop violence. His ideas, while they may be quite offensive or at the least controversial to some, definitely present new perspectives on why humans give in to primal instincts.
Girard discusses, in complicated and yet fairly understandable terms, common literary elements of sacrifice, plagues, dealing with crisis, and generative and reciprocal violence. Another interesting topic Girard analyzes in his novel is that of desire. In presenting the idea that human desire is mimetic and external, he eventually comes to the conclusion that desire invariably becomes violent.
The tried and tried again theory behind the title character of Oedipus Rex gets a revamping in Girard's second chapter with the suggestion that Oedipus, rather than being led into fate, himself took the deliberate steps to end up where he was. Every aspect of Oedipus, as well as many other stories and novels, can be analyzed under Girard's theory with the result of a highly different perspective.
Other literary analyses are of great interest, including the idea of the "monstrous double" in literature, the literary elements of mirroring and repetition, and the historical significance of twins in society. Girard's novel gives a new and large perspective not only on literature, but on society.